The Clay Sustains: Book 3 in The Clay Series

When she marries the man her father chose for her, she learns the shaman in her new village is a man who had previously terrorized her. Because he is determined to control her and the village, she must learn to use her power by calling on the raven, her spirit, to resist. With the lives of her family and the future of the village at stake, she must confront his magic, but at what cost? More

In a small village beneath the massive towers of Great-Grandfather Mountain, Ha-wani, following the traditions handed down since before remembering, crafts an ordinary pot, singing her spirit into the clay as she works it. It is a simple act, but one that will touch the lives of other women centuries after she has gone from this place.

Like the women in The Clay Remembers and The Clay Endures, Ha-wani doesn’t know how strong she is until she is put to the test. When she marries the man her father chose for her, she discovers the shaman in her new village is the same man who had terrorized her, promising that she and her powerful spirit would belong to him. Because he is determined, not only to have her, but to control the village, she must learn to use her power by calling on the raven, her spirit, to resist his attacks. With the lives of her family and the future of the village at stake, she must confront his magic, but at what cost?

She is an author, freelance writer, and editor. The Clay Series has been a long-time project for which she has done extensive research into the archaeology and prehistory of the Tucson Basin and the history of the the Spanish entrada into Southwestern United States. Her own affinity for the Sonoran Desert helped to create the character of Anna, the protagonist of the first book in the series, The Clay Remembers.

In her work as an editor, she specializes in working with authors who wish to self-publish print and e-books. As owner of Buckskin Books and Writing and Editing Services by Sharon, she offers editorial and writing services across a broad spectrum, including editing at multiple levels, and preparing digital manuscripts for e-publication and print manuscripts for print-on-demand technology.

In addition to collaborating with Cristy Kessler on 5 S.T.E.P.S to Becoming Your Own Patient Advocate, she co-authored "Effective Writing for Teacher Researchers," in Teachers Taking Action: A Comprehensive Guide to Teacher Research(2008), and, Doing Academic Writing in Education: Connecting the Personal and the Professional (Erlbaum, 2005).

Her fascination with the archaeology of the Southwest is the subject of a novel, The Clay Remembers, which will be released on May 1, 2015. Two additional novels are in the works as part of The Clay Series. The Clay Endures is the story of Esperanza Ramirez, a nineteenth-century woman whose husband homesteaded the site of an ancient Hohokam village, the site Anna, in The Clay Remembers, excavates. The third book is the story of an twelfth-century Hohokam woman whose village is in decline and who crafts the pot that brings her together with Esperanza and Anna.

Sharon lives in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband Jim, their son Jeff, a rambunctious dog named Hannah.